Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Punic Wars fought between Rome and the Carthaginian
Empire comprised three separate encounters over 118 years, starting in 264 B.C.
and ending in 146 B.C. The first was a battle for control of Sicily, the second
the famous war with Hannibal, and the third resulted in the destruction of the
Carthaginians. The first war, which we will concentrate on here, saw the
initial efforts by Rome to deploy naval forces and use them in battle. The fact
that Sicily is an island made this war as much about navies as armies.

The Roman people were not seafaring by nature. The city was 16
miles from the coast and their focus had always been on agriculture rather than
trade. Before the advent of the Punic Wars Rome did not possess navy or
merchant marine because she did not need them. Her wars were fought on land and
she relied on the Greek traders of Magna Graecia to carry her cargo. Carthage was
the opposite -- a great seafaring nation of the western Mediterranean whose
ships traveled the waters from England to Egypt. Not belligerent by nature, the
Carthaginians maintained a substantial navy which was necessary to protect
their trade interests in the Mediterranean and beyond.

The First Punic War began over a silly dispute. The
Mamertines, Italian mercenaries from Campania, attacked and took control of
Messana (Messina) Sicily. They were soon defeated by Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse,
and afterward appealed to Rome and Carthage for aid. The Carthaginian’s “helped”
by placing a garrison there, which was not what the Mamertines were expecting. Angered
by this offense, they requested a treaty with Rome. The Senate knew a treaty
would mean war with Carthage so they debated long and hard before deciding to
move forward.

After the first land skirmishes of the war, Rome realized
that Carthage would not be a pushover and defeating them would depend on their
ability to fight at sea. With that in mind, the Romans proceeded to build 100
fivers (quinqueremes) and 20 triremes during the winter of 261/0 B.C.

The
fivers where probably adapted from a beached Carthaginian craft the Romans had
captured. Construction was completed in 60 days and the ships were prepared to
support the anticipated attack on Messana.

Although the Romans were inexperienced at sea, this
lack of skill was partly offset when they fitted their ships with a corvus.
This thirteen foot bridge was rigged to fall on the deck of an enemy ship, hold
fast during battle, and allow soldiers to board and defeat the enemy.

Following construction, the consul C. Cornelius Scipio took 20 ships on to Messana
while his consular colleague C. Duilius followed behind.

Scipio immediately received a proposal to be handed the
Carthaginian naval station at Lipara, but the information was also leaked to
the enemy. While ashore there, he was surprised by a Punic attack force and captured
with all of his ships, earning him the sobriquet Asina (ass) for his stupidity.

After the fall of Scipio, Duilius was put in overall command.
He set out for the north coast of Sicily to intercept the armada of Hannibal
(not the general) which had attacked the port of Mylae. As the Romans approached,
the Punic navy put to sea. Overconfident, the Carthaginian commander allowed
his battle formation to fall apart, making himself vulnerable to the Roman
corvus. The thirty leading Punic ships were boarded and taken, while Hannibal
escaped via longboat. In all 50 Carthaginian ships were captured in Rome’s
first great naval victory.

Duilius did not pursue Hannibal because he had to rescue
Segesta from a Carthaginian siege by deploying his marines from the Gulf of Termini. He returned to Rome for a
triumph in 259 B.C. carrying with him the beaks of the captured Punic ships
which went on display in the Forum. Oddly, he was never given another
commission.